CNA file photo

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) Taiwan's government is doing everything in its power to attend the Interpol General Assembly at the end of September and hopes that China will not prevent it from attending, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said on Monday.

Huang was responding to a Liberty Times report that said Taiwan will not be seeking to participate in the Interpol General Assembly as an observer this year given that the Sept. 26-29 conference will take place in Beijing.

The report said Taiwan will not be participating as an observer or sending any representatives to the assembly as it will be hosted in Beijing with a Chinese chairman presiding.

Huang said, however, that the government is hopeful that Chinese authorities will make a friendly gesture and not use any political maneuvers to deny Taiwanese nationals of their right to participate in international organizations.

Taiwan has the right and responsibility as a member of the global community to participate in and contribute to international organizations, he stressed.

Participating in international organizations involves the welfare and rights of the Taiwanese people, Huang added, and he expressed the hope that the international community will support Taiwan in its quest to take part in more international events.

Taiwan was booted out of Interpol in 1984 when China was admitted. The country tried to use diplomatic efforts to participate in the organization during a period of warmer Taipei-Beijing ties from 2008 to 2016, but those efforts failed.

Then in 2016, Taiwan formally applied for the first time in 32 years to take part in the General Assembly as an observer, but that request was also rejected.

Considering that history, and the existing political stalemate in Taiwan-China relations, Taipei will have a hard time securing a breakthrough for this year's Interpol meeting in Beijing.

(By Lu Hsin-huei and Kuan-lin Liu)
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